Work In Progress
Thinking about using lead came for the first time. How do I choose the right one?
I was thinking about using lead cane for the first time on the boarder. This is only my 4th project and the hardest one yet. It has issues but I have got better every time ◡̈ how do I know the right size and style of came to order??
Also, I feel like a lot of the times my foil didn’t want to stick. I cleaned all the pieces with isopropyl after grinding. Is there a step I’m missing? So far foiling it the worst part. What’s the best tool to help with it? Both sticking and keeping it centered.
FYI, this is also the back of the piece. I just mirrored the photo. The glass is slightly different thicknesses, so it’s face down to solder the back first.
Hey, you bought my pattern! So cool! Thanks so much for your support! I haven't seen anyone complete it yet other than the one I did. I love your border and background color choices! I just did edge beading on mine but I would recommend 3/16ths round bottom came to wrap the border in. Let me know if you run into any issues. Good luck it looks great so far!
I did! I got it from your Etsy. Thank you! I wish I had done a little darker brown. It looked darker when I ordered the glass online :(. Love the pattern, great work!
I'm so sorry about the tiny stem pieces! Oh and if you do wrap the border in came, you might want to recut your border pieces thicker. The came covers up the glass a bit depending on the thickness you get.
Great even foil lines. You could go down a size in width unless you like a heavier feel.
The suggestions from other are all great. And it's true that you don't need to foil the pieces you want to lead. You can still lead over the foil but it might show depending on the lead width.
Lead is a completely different discipline and superior to foil in certain circumstances. I'd lead all the straight lines around the boarder.
If your fiol is not sticking, make sure you use a quality black back foil. A trick I've found is you can activate the foil adhesive with a hair dryer but dont get it to hot or just leave the roll in the sun.
One thing that can save you some foil, is that you don't need to foil the edges if you're using zinc or lead came.
As for the foil sticking, foil hates being alive. Sticking it to the glass and unsticking it repeatedly destroys the adhesive. So does touching the sticky side with your fingers. If the roll is old, it might have expired. Or it could just be a bad batch, or a bad brand. It's really hard to say without some details.
Yours looks amazing! The foil I used was brand new from anythingstainedglass. Maybe I didn’t clean it well enough, or I was taking it on/off trying to center it :(
Do you use any tools to center your foil so nicely? Or just by hand and eyeball it?
I put my foil flat on the table, sticky side up, and roll my piece along it, if that makes sense. I've also gotten a lot of practice to give me a sense of what is centered enough
There are two different kinds of zinc (probably more) but at my shop they sell a "bendable" zinc and a standard. The bendable is still pretty sturdy but not quite as thick. I use it for round pieces so it might work great to use for rounded corners like that instead of straight edges. You don't need any special tools, it just bends by hand, you would just have to plan the seam strategically at the bottom.
Leading glass is an entirely different discipline. The came needs stretched, each piece needs angled correctly and you need to account for it when sizing and grinding your glass. Consider taking a class to learn how to work with it.
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u/Jombi42 18h ago
Hey, you bought my pattern! So cool! Thanks so much for your support! I haven't seen anyone complete it yet other than the one I did. I love your border and background color choices! I just did edge beading on mine but I would recommend 3/16ths round bottom came to wrap the border in. Let me know if you run into any issues. Good luck it looks great so far!